Vodafone Idea’s losses widened in Q3 FY23 by 10.4 per cent to ₹7,990 crore. This compares with a loss of ₹7,231 crore it reported in the year-ago period.
As per the company’s financial results announced on Tuesday, revenue for operations grew 9.2 per cent to ₹10,620 crore in the December quarter, compared with ₹9,717 crore same time last year.
EBITDA reduced by 2 per cent to ₹4,097 crore (₹4,180 crore) and margins dropped to 38.6 per cent.
According to the company, the growth in revenue comes on the back of improving subscriber mix and tariff interventions. ARPU for the quarter stood at ₹135 as against ₹115 in Q3 FY22, translating into a 17.4 per cent y-o-y growth. As per the company, its 4G subscriber base increased to 121.6 million in Q3 (120.6 million in Q2 FY23).
Debt break-up
The total gross debt (excluding lease liabilities and including interest accrued but not due) as of December 31, 2022, stood at ₹2.2-lakh crore, comprising deferred spectrum payment obligations of ₹1.3 crore and AGR liability of ₹69,910 crore that are due to the government, and debt from banks and financial institutions to the tune of ₹13,190 crore.
“We continue to focus on expanding our high speed broadband network coverage and capacity by rolling out new sites, upgrading our core and transmission network as well as by refarming 2G/3G spectrum to 4G. We shut down ~2,800 3G sites during the quarter while adding ~2,000 4G sites. Our overall broadband site count stood at 443,450 as of December 31, 2022,” the company said in its press note.